Photos from successful APHEDA dinner in Canberra last week.
“It is no longer possible to protect workers’ rights in one country, while in neighbouring countries with whom we trade, workers face exploitation and sweatshop conditions. The fight for workers’ rights in one country has to be a fight for workers’ rights in every country. I urge you to sign up as a regular donor to Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA, as a part of the Make Life Fair Everywhere campaign.” Sharan Burrow, ACTU President.
capitalist crisis severe
More tough fighting talk from Ms Burrows. The ACTU leadership is unable to conduct any sort of campaign that protects our rights here in Australia let alone in a country of distant shores, She is right though we do need to organise and fight the bastards here on our own shores.
What many of us what to know is when will our leaderships begin this necessary fight for workers rights. As for the slogan ‘ Make life fair everywhere’ what could that mean? The suggestion is that somewhere life is fair! A modicum of understanding about how the highly competitive capitalist economic system works informs us that ‘fair’ is a misnomer here.
While the struggle for a ‘Fair-Go’ is a sentiment that presides deep within our bellies and the national psyche in actuality this may be the only place it can be found. We all should know that within an exploitative global economic system such as ours is – A fair days pay for a fair days work is a furphy as is the notion that life is fair anywhere least of all under the current circumstances.
It is a sad day indeed that the senior representatives in the labour movement see charity as in anyway a radical solution to systemic rot.
I say it is time for the ACTU to put rhetorical flourishes into action.